Thank you to all who attended in-person or virtually. We were able to unanimously pass the proposed PTA budget for 26-27 school year.
If you'd like to dive into the financial details, including a comparison of the FY26 (this year!)'s budget vs actuals vs FY27 (next year)'s budget, please see the deck shared during the April 8th meeting HERE.
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Educator + Staff Positions:
By far the largest portion of the FY27 budget will be going to support students via educator and staff positions. As the district has slashed focal funding across the board, it's become increasingly important that PTAs fill the gap to ensure our more vulnerable students are not impacted by these changes.
𧬠STEAM: $120,000
This program is proving to be pricier than previously budgeted for. We are hoping to find an in-house teacher or a program that fits within this budget.
π ELD: $60,000
With roughly 60 students who require individual attention, the ELD program is a key support for focal students. It also supports the larger school community by increasing test scores for students who need additional support - a key metric for future District funding.
π Librarian: $33,000
This will allow our beloved librarian to remain with us 5 days a week, allowing her to continue valuable programs such as creativity time, in addition to providing year-round library time for all students.
π©π½π« Assistant Principal: $69,906
As a school with many students who depend on IEPs and 504s, as well as a DHH magnet school, this admin role is invaluable in providing a school-wide support, especially for our focal students. These funds will augment district funds to provide us with an AP 3 days a week.
NOTE: We are also advocating with the district to provide funds for the rest of the days, allowing us a full-time AP; if you have not already, please take the time to email the executive cabinet! Information and link to a suggested email template is available here!
β½οΈ Noon Monitor: $15,473
Our noon monitors are an important part of the ecosystem that keep our students safe during lunch and recess, as well as supporting in other ways around the school.
π¨π»π« Substitute Support: $20,000
This is increased to provide support to our 4th and 5th grade classrooms who have larger class sizes. This fund allows for substitute days for grading and prep time as well as additional pay for prep time outside of school hours. There are also a fair amount of funds leftover from this year so the total will come to closer to $30,000.
πͺ© Staff Appreciation: $6,500
We LOVE showing our teachers how much we appreciate them! This budget item goes towards monthly lunches, teacher appreciation week and keeping the staff lounge stocked with coffee and other goodies!
Supplies and Field Trip Support:
We remain dedicated to ensuring equitable access to field trips and learning supplies via annual grants for all teachers at the school. Thanks to our fearless financial leader, Will Chinn, we have also reviewed the budget and provided the first increase for inflation in several years.
βοΈ Supply and Field Trip Grants: $60,947
We want to make sure that every student can fully participate and doesn't need to worry about bringing their own supplies or missing field trips due to economic hardship. We've increased the budget this year to account for inflation and the addition of another TK class!
π»General Administrative: $10,450
This covers many of the software subscriptions that students and families use along with the fees for the CPA who files taxes for us! A small but important line item to keep us in good standing as a non-profit organization.
π³ Expanded Education: $22,000
The highlight of many student's Lafayette experience, a bulk of this budget goes to the NatureBridge field trip, which every student gets to participate in during the 5th grade.
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We look forward to another wonderful summer and a strong start to next school year.
For those curious on how to get more involved in the budget decisions, please reach out to Meghan (lafayettevolunteers@gmail.com) to discuss available Executive Board positions. All PTA members are eligible to vote on the proposed budget, so long as they have been members for 30 days. PTA Membership sign-ups are available HERE.
In community,
The Executive Board
Wed, Apr 22 11:03am